My brother is an Ironman...

Recently my brother accomplished a goal that not many even think or have the desire to achieve, he completed a Ford Ironman event. (Most people know and watch the big one in Kona) After months of training and preparation he swam out into the cold waters of Tempe Town Lake in Arizona among thousands of other participates. With a final wave from the waters to us standing high above on the bridge, the starting gun sounded and he was off on his 2.4 mile swim. Through transition to the bike portion, he gave us another excited wave and was off again for the 112 mile bike ride. We repositioned ourselves at the parking garage and waited for him to pass by on the first lap, there were 3 laps to make the full course. He was making great time on all the portions so far, and the best was to come... the run. He hates running, but we all knew he was going to do an amazing job. He had trained not only physically, but mentally as well. He would have to run a full marathon, 26.2 miles after all of the other portions he had completed. His goal to finish the whole event was under 12 hours. The proof of what make my brother MY hero and a true Ironman is shown in the picture below:


Notice the clock time...11:58:24, just under 12 hours he pushed himself to make it the last few miles.

Great run form and untrue to his normal head cock to the side.

More great form on the bike.

A little spectator action

Here's the wave I mentioned earlier.

Prepping the night before, he even had his number shaved into his hair.

SO now at 28 years old, (Happy Birthday Today!) My brother continues to be my hero and inspiration for many of the athletic adventures I have been most recently inspired to achieve.

Happy Birthday Sis~

My sister turned 24 today. Despite the stares we get sometimes at the mall, we are not twins. From the sweet little Christmas gift she was to me one year, to this amazing women God is calling her to be, I continue to blessed to get to know my sister more and more. Here are some of the moments we have most recently shared together.

Her wedding day, April 4th


The Wurstride from Austin, Tx to San Marcos, Tx

On the steps Jesus walked in Israel.

Goofing around in Paris, France

I know not all people are blessed to have a sister, but I sure able glad I am have one who loves me so much! Happy Birthday sis.

Road Trip

As a child, I remember during early morning hours being guided half asleep with my pillow through the house to the direction of the car. My brother, sister and I would all settle into our seats, quickly falling asleep again as one of my parents would start our journey towards the coast. Some years it would be towards Savannah,Ga to see my dad's parents, other years (mostly during the summers) it would be in the direction of Sarasota, FL to see my mom's parents. We never flew anywhere, but I always enjoyed the special moments that a road trip brings; stops at the gas station (of course for gas, but more importantly the snacks you don't get at other times) the games to keep yourself entertained to make time pass quicker (the license plate game, or alphabet bill board game), but best of all the many hours of being together in close quarters together(drawing imaginary lines on the car seat to be sure you have a fair amount of space) therefore building a foundation for the family you will become later in life. Slowly as we grew up, other members of the family would become legal to drive therefore sharing the burden of the long drives. Recently as full grown adults, we were able to share these memories all over again. (Perhaps more joyfully shared by me than my other family members, but a trip that I will treasure all the more because of the connects it allowed me to make)

Here's some wonderful stops along the way...

Thankful we were able to all fit in my brother's new car, and because of the "rule" of no eating in the new car, we had to stop for meals along the way. This stop was at the Grand Canyon, a planned stop along the way. What a measure of God's amazing creative power. I was also in awe because after 3 weeks of teaching my 4th graders about erosion, I was seeing up close real life application. Below is our next stop, a little less planned, but planned thankfully to the hotel rack of brochures. My dad was excited when he found the brochure on the Meteor crater that was near us.

Next stop...the petrified forest and painted desert, then onto Carlsbad Cavern...

These quick pictures were another moment along the trip that allowed me to connect the teaching of 4th graders with real life. Is the sun really a renewable resource?

All in all, the trip was "Grand" and the family road trip at 30 years old crammed in a car still proved to be able to build memories.